STORIES IN FARM MANAGEMENT

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 73, Issue 5, 15 November 1946, Page 399

STORIES IN FARM MANAGEMENT

THE thriving township of Taihape, at an elevation of 1450 ft., 50 miles airline from the western . coast and on the North Island Main Trunk railway, is the commercial centre of the northern sector of Rangitikei County. Its rural area extends northward to the high Central Plateau tussock country; westward to the Wangaehu River;, eastward to the Ruahine Ranges, and southward to midway between Utiku and Mangaweka. Within these confines are some of the most prosperous and picturesque pastoral lands of New Zealand. Hillcountry sheep farming predominates, and methods of management vary from extensive to semi-intensive according to climate and soil cover, as determined by topography, soil type, and altitude.

By

A. R. DINGWALL,

Instructor in Agriculture, Wanganui.

THE main topographical features range from rolling country through moderately steep to steep papa hills. The major soil ■ types are, the more fertile silt . loams derived from underlying, sedimentary mudstones, and the derivatives. of Tongariro and the less fertile Taupo volcanic ash showers at higher elevations. Before the war the district absorbed, annually 3000 tons of . artificial fertil-

isers and less than 1000 tons of lime, but'lime consumption increased to 2000 tons with the decrease in supplies . of rationed fertilisers. *■' Taihape sheep, with 'their. : preponderance of Romney blood; are noted for "consitutidn, quality of bone, and. size. Cast-for-age ewes find a keen demand from Waikato and Hawke’s Bay fat lamb raisers, and hoggets and whitefaced . ewe lambs are readily acceptable

to coastal buyers. , About 120,000 fat Lambs,: chiefly white-faced, -are railed each, year to the Imlay. (Wanganui) and .Longburn freezing works. ■The district contains some noted Romney Marsh and Polled Angus studs. ' ' Climate • The Taihape district, compared with many other North Island hill-country areas, has a comparatively low annual rainfall, averaging between 37 and 40in. However,Jit is fairly evenly distributed and, though ; the district is sometimes subject "to dry. periods during the late;summer and autumn, ■ conditions rarely become as severe as in Hawke’s . Bay . and parts # of the Wairarapa.- Summer weather ; is usually equable, but the. winters are somewhat severe because of the high altitude. From . June, to September frosts may

be severe and snow may fall on as many -as seven occasions,' but except on the high tussock, country these falls are light and. quickly disperse.

A TAIHAPE SHEEP FARM

.The farm which is the subject of this article ,is 'owned in partnership by Messrs. J. Bartosh arid A. H. Boole, the senior partner, Mr. Bartosh, having been in occupation for the past 40 years. It ' is; located as shown on the accompanying soil map, at Wainui, about 4 miles airline, or' 6 miles via the Taihape Valley Road, to the north-east of Taihape.' The area; of . 1405 acres includes an original block of 1150. acres acquired 40 ■ years ago—9so acres of virgin bush and 200 acres of natural clearings; the other 255 acres is an adjoining block of natural clearing country acquired 20 years ago.

Development of Property

The original- bush was dominantly matai and. white pine with a good sprinkling of totara and maire. Light bush; existing on : the fringes of the heavy bush and natural clearings, consisted 'mainly of lacebark, . fuchsia, kowhai, matipo, and-allied species. Trie natural clearing land, timbered in ■ bygone ages, contained a cover of native grasses in. which danthonia predominated, with some weed such as bidi-bidi and bracken fern.

Today the property consists of 1300 acres of fully-developed grassland, about 90 acres of native bush, 10 acres of exotic plantations and' shelter belts, and" the balance in residential and farm building sections.

Some 280 acres of natural clearing country has - been ploughed, cropped, and' sown down in the best English grassses and clovers. The steeper, surface-sown, bush-cleared hills are well clothed in pastures that contain a good proportion of the better-class grasses .and have been materiality improved by topdressing and judicious grazing.

Numerous patches of native bush, thoughtfully preserved, not only “lend enchantment to the view’’ blit provide shelter and shade for stock and have a stabilising effect on the steeper hill soils. '

Topography and Soils

There is virtually no flat land, the area consisting chiefly of moderatelysteep hills, of comparatively smooth contour, rising from about ,2000 ft. to 2432 ft. at the Matangawha : Trig. Apart from some sloping toplands, the ploughable country is rolling. Most of the hill country is in well-defined ridge systems, but some lesser peaks rise as isolated, symmetrical cones, a characteristic land formation found throughout the more '. massive . hill structure of the Taihape district.

The soil type is fairly uniform, being a strong silt loam of good depth overlying the sedimentary mudstone (papa) from which it has been derived. It., is typical of soil type No. 2 on the accompanying soil map, occurring extensively throughout the district. It is one of the best classes of hillcountry ’ soils to be found throughout New Zealand, Soil type No. 5, which also occurs extensively in this locality, is of somewhat similar origin and type, though the topsoil is shallower and the hills more steep and rugged. The black topsoil is inclined to pug during the winter, probably because Of a prolific population of earthworms,

which are strongly established throughout . much of the country. This tendency to pug is not so pronounced as in the soils of some adjacent . steep papa country, and on the ploughable, rolling’ areas excessive pugging can be overcome readily by mole drainage. Though the moderately slopes are subject' to slip erosion of the less severe kind, the establishment and maintenance of close ground cover, as provided by a dense, vigorous pasture sward such as that on this farm, have an important influence. in the mitigation of soil erosion. Furthermore, when slips do occur in this country they readily . regrass if the original sward was of reasonable quality, though Messrs. Bartosh and Doole .hasten the process by surface sowing. Subdivision . The' property is closely subdivided. Internal fence lines may appear irregular, , but. fences have been constructed on the sound principle of conforming to the lie of- the land and are mainly • located along .ridges. All fences are substantially erected and

well maintained. Barbed wire is not favoured because of possible injury to stock. The fencing programme, in both construction and maintenance, has been facilitated by readily-avail-able supplies of timber from the original forest cover and the plentiful reserves, particularly of 'totara; that ■ were wisely retained while the farm 'was being developed. These reserves are 1 now near exhaustion and are being replaced by materials drawn from long-established plantations of exotic species, particularly macrocarpa and . eucalypts. Paddocks range in size from one acre, in some of the homestead fields, to 150 acres for the larger subdivisions. Water Supply In common with many others - throughout the Taihape district, this farm is not favoured by - a plentiful and permanent supply of running water. With close , subdivision, few paddocks contain permanent streams. During the drier summer months the . lack of water, especially for cattle, is

a limiting factor in this ‘ country, and special provisions, have to be made to overcome this difficulty. This drawback has been efficiently surmounted’ by Messrs. Bartosh and Boole, who have constructed numerous small earthwork dams to cater for all paddocks not served by permanent streams. These dams,- of which there are - 40, .each ■ about,' 3ft. deep and • 1 square chain in area, located as shown on the farm plan, were constructed with horse scoops. Today .'they could be formed more easily by a bulldozer. In general, they are sited to avoid the major, depressions, where rapid silting up'would be most likely in the larger, though non-permanent, ; streams. The winter rainfall is - sufficient •. to ensure the filling of these dams, . even though they do not gain the full benefit of the < whole of the potential catchment area. The time and labour expended in their construction have been adequately compensated for by the vital service they perform. . , Water for the homestead, adjacent cottages, woolshed and dip,: and also for some of . the homestead paddocks, is provided by four, circular concrete tanks holding 48,000 gallons, and ranging in size from 5000 gallons to one of 23,000 gallons , at the woolshed. Every advantage has been - taken of the extensive catchment areas of homestead and farm' building roofs to collect the rainwater with which these tanks are filled. .

Buildings; and Equipment z -I; Of the residential' buildings, ■ the homestead (A) with its well-planned gardens, : lawns, and. shrubbery is pleasantly enclosed by a high,- closeclipped macrocarpa hedge, belts, t of splendid eucalypts and pines, and a grove of native, bush containing many kowhais. The concrete drive winds up from a cattle-stop entrance on the Kotukuraeroa. Road.

- Two cottages (D) are near z the homestead, one on a rise opposite the home entrance and the other in the sheltered valley below. Further, staff accommodation is provided by fourroomed shearers’ quarters (not shown on the plan) below and to the! south of the homestead,' and a whare (E) on the south-eastern sector of the prop.erty.

-The farm’buildings include a ‘ fourstand, electric-powered woolshed with night accommodation for 1000 sheep, with adjoining yards and covered,-tip-platform dip. The -stable and implement shed (B) is above the woolshed, and :another store shed (not shown on the’ plan) stands between ' these , two. Pens and a ramp to facilitate the loading of sheep are on the roadside near the . woolshed. Sheepyards*. (F) serve the southern sector of the property.

In addition to the usual cultivating equipment, the farm carries a full complement of horse-drawn haymaking machinery including mower, tedder,’ rake, tumbler and wheeled sweeps, and a mechanical stacker.

Plantations and Shelter

The general formation of the country, with its sunny gullies, sloping valleys, and : the ’ protection of intervening ridges,., lends itself to natural shelter, so that extensive shelter belts are necessary only in the vicinity of the homestead. Patches of native v bush, \ where in September kowhais bloom in profusion, provide protection and shade for stock in most of the . outlying paddocks. Thus,, though there are one ’.or two high • shelter , breaks, mainly of pines, most of the exotic trees have been planted in the form of . small mixed plantations begun 30 years ago. : The species used include macrocarpa, Pinus insignis, and several varieties of gums, notably E. Macarthurii, E./viminalis, E. Gunnii, E. saligna, and E. botryoides. All, with the exception of E. saligna and E. botryoides, have' given . satisfaction,. and there are some splendid--30-year-old insignis’ pines, as straight ;as a ' gun barrel' to 90ft. at the tips, and Bft. 6in. in. circumference at . the butts. Eucalypts, after 30 years’ growth, have attained a height of over 80ft. with a butt circumference of over 6ft. and little sign of faults.. Macrocarpas are already providing fencing posts, and much fencing material in the way of posts, battens, and rails has been taken' from' thinnings of plantations. A small stand of redwoods is of too recent origin to indicate results; v" Shelter belts have been planted as three-row breaks with Bft. between trees and 10ft. between rows. .In mixed belts gums and Pinus macrocarpa the gums have been placed on

the .. leeward side. The 10ft. spacing between rows has been found a little too close for these mixed plantations. Mr. Bartosh is a firm believer in intercultivation at least during . the initial year of establishment. Young trees set out and intergrown with a potato crop in the first year have attained a height of 10ft. by the following autumn, and Mr. Bartosh considers that by this intercultivation young trees gain 3 or 4 years of growth. The best timber has been grown in the" valleys.

Pasture Mixtures Pastures, whether on the easier, ploughed . country, or on . the moder-ately.-steep hillsides, form close swards in which the better classes of English grasses and clovers, particularly perennial ryegrass, .' cocksfoot, and white clover, . are conspicuous. One outstanding feature is the very considerable ■ proportion of cocksfoot in these pastures and its vigorous appearance even in July. The value attributed to this species, and to ■ the advisability, of a heavy seeding rate of , quality seed ‘ when sowing down permanent pasture, can be gauged by the following mixture used in all recent' sowings.

lb. per acre Perennial ryegrass, erti- , ’’ . fied Mother seed ... 36 38 Cocksfoot, Certified .. 16-14 Crested dogstail .. ... 4 Timothy ' .. .. 1 White clover, Cer' 1 .. 3 Total J .... .. 60

Where soil conditions are damper the lower seeding rate of cocksfoot is used, timothy is omitted, and the mixture made up to the 601 b. an acre by including 31b. of meadow foxtail. Cowgrass was used in earlier sowings and succeeded very well in the‘original bush burns. As red clover tended to graze out, and the balance of clover in the sward could well be maintained with white clover, its inclusion was discontinued. The more recently-intro-duced and persistent strains of Montgomery red clover have not been tried.

' Both spring and autumn sowings have proved successful, though autumn sowing.’ is favoured, especially in weedy ground where thistle, fat-hen, and black nightshade prove troublesome in spring sowings. Early ploughing and pre-cultivation to control weed growth and attain the desirably fine tilth is deemed advisable to ensure the establishment of a dense, vigorous sward. ■ On unploughable country the sward has been improved by. surface sowings of the same mixture, though at. a lighter seeding rate. Where possible

heavy harrowing before surface sowing is recommended. The pastures are. never severely grazed and are kept in order by cattle grazing, topdressing, and liming. ' Topdressing and Liming 1 Mr. Bartosh was a pioneer in the topdressing of hill country in the Taihape' district and- began the use of artificial fertilisers for this purpose some 20 years ago. During his initial trials in'conjunction with the Department of Agriculture various . phosphatic fertilisers, including superphosphate, rock phosphates, and, basic slag, were used both, alone and in combination. Basic slag gave the’most lasting effect, -but experience indicated that best results could be obtained by a mixture of . superphosphate-Nauru--1 potash in the ratio of 2:2:1; this mixture, applied at 3cwt. an acre, was used whenever , these materials were available. In a three-year period, during which practically the whole of the property received a dressing, wool production was raised from 68 to 112 bales a year. Fertiliser, rationing prevented . the continuance of . a programme of topdressing one-third of the farm annually. Similarly, wartime difficulties interrupted a liming programme that would have given the property a dressing of 2 tons of agricultural lime an acre, Phosphates have been found to give an added response when applied after the liming of this country. With ample road access and an easy terrain compared with much other hill country, the laying out and distribution of fertilisers and lime offer no great difficulty on this property, though all spreading has been done by hand.

Cropping Programme

Till recent years between 30 and 40 acres were cropped and from 20 to .30 acres of grass were cut annually for hay. The crops grown were rape for autumn fattening, swedes for w : ?ter roots, and from 5 to 10 acres ,of oats for chaff which was used on the farm for the horses. High yields of swedes can be obtained on this country; one exceptional crop yielding about '■ 100 tons an acre was grown as a first crop after an area of' rush-infested land had been deep ploughed and mole drained.

Mole drainage proved so successful on some of the ploughable, rolling country in eliminating both rushes and winter pugging of the soil that about 100 acres were treated. These drains are still working satisfactorily • after 10 years’ operations.

Labour shortage during the war led to the . abandonment-of cropping and a - reduction in the-area cut for hay to 10 acres , a year. Apart from some concentrate . feeding of stud ram hoggets and the feeding . out, mainly to cattle, of the present reduced tonnage of hay, all animals are wintered on grass alone.

The hay is not baled, but is fed out either in racks or in the field, the latter method being preferred because of the benefit conferred on pastures by the feeding out of well-seeded hay. Secondary Growth and Weed Control

On this property such common secondary growth as manuka, bracken, and hard fern, and that troublesome sheep-country weed bidi-bidi, is absent; Yet all are to be found, sometimes extensively, on farms where soil type, topography, and climate are similar to those of this farm. The remarkable cleanness of the pastures may .be attributed, in no small measure to the wise policy of ‘ dealing effectively with these invaders before they had a chance to become established strongly. Two patches of manuka, totalling 3 acres and growing on the natural clearing area of the original block, were cut, carted into a 'gully; and 'burnt 3Q years' ago and'have riot reappeared . there, since. Similarly, 8 to 10 acres of -the more recentlyacquired natural clearing , were / invaded by manuka. It was treated in similar manner, the area surface sown, topdressed, and stocked with cattle, and the dense pasture sward is now free of this trouble, in marked contrast to nearby natural clearing country. ’ ’

, Bidi-bidi which originally infested the natural clearings was cleaned up by allowing the growth to come away in the autumn, followed by heavy , grazing by cattle from April to September. No further trouble has been experienced from this weed. . T It is stressed that successful eradication of bidi-bidi can be achieved only by heavy stocking with cattle during the winter and by the maintenance of a close pasture sward. The same applies to the control of bracken fern. \

Stock Management . At present the 1300 acres of grazing, land winters 3760 sheep and 600 cattle, the cattle being increased to 800 during the summer by buying in yearlings in the spring. The sheep flock includes 2000 -breeding ewes, 1600 hoggets, and 60 rams.. The high proportion of hoggets to Ft mature sheep arises from the fact that w a substantial Romney stud the W

Kotuku Stud, established .in 1913 and considerably increased during recent . yearsis maintained. The wintering of a large number of stud hoggets lowers the potential ewe-carrying capacity. All replacement sheep are bred on the property. Ewes are ring crutched before tupping. In the case of the .f' flock • ewes,. most of the rams are put out on March 20, but a few are retained to go out about four weeks later. Rams remain out until crutching time., Fresh rams are introduced into the stud flock at intervals of three , weeks. After being crutched. in June the ewes are drafted out, according to age, into the paddocks in which they will lamb. The owners would prefer to draft out flock ewes and lambs at drop on to fresh pastures, but the present labour position precludes this except with- the stud flock. Lambing usually begins about August 20. Per- . centages, based on the number of lambs dropped and the number of ewes mated, range between 110 and 120, and losses, which occur, mainly at =/lambing time, are lights per. cent. No fixed rotational grazing system is adopted, nor is any j special provision made for spring /feeding apart from the closing up ■'j of two or three small grass pads'docks for a reserve in case of ■ . fl emergency. The rotation system / was tried out several years ago on a specially-subdivided portion of the , farm. Though no difficulties were i encountered, it did not appear to M offer any advantages over the f present system, whereby the ewe

and lamb flocks are shifted only . occasionally to take advantage of fresh feed offering in any particular paddock. Docking is begun at six ' weeks to avoid the disadvantages arising out of mismothering when lambs are docked at an earlier age. Shearing is done during December, and all lambs are shorn with the ewes to lessen the incidence of blowfly strike and reduce the labour involved . in the flagging of woolly hoggets. . All flock wether lambs (white face) are sold fat off the ewes, and surplus' flock ewe lambs are disposed of at the local autumn fairs. Lambs , are drenched at weaning And again about eight weeks later if, deemed necessary. Replacement ewe hoggets are - turned out for the winter into paddocks known to do hoggets well, though apart from this no special provisions for feed are made. Stud ram hoggets are fed a rationed supplement of mixed concentrate meals and nuts which has been found very beneficial. The incidence of hogget mortality is insignificant. Two-tooths are culled for constitution and to a smaller extent for wool defects, all stud animals being subjected to the wool type test conducted by Massey Agricultural College at Palmerston North. In addition to the culling of two- and four-tooths, all five-year-old ewes are sold at the local February . ewe fairs. Contrary to the more common practice, little culling of dry ewes is done. If the condition of these ewes is kept down during the summer, it has been found that they produce really good

lambs in the succeeding year, ■ and ft has been concluded that • only a very small proportion of ewes will' not breed.

Foot-scald gives more cause for concern than foot-rot on this farm, and as a precaution the flock is run through the foot-rot trough whenever mobs are yarded.

No cattle are bred on the property and. all purchases, most of which are made privately and preferably from regular sources, are of young stock, Seldom more than yearlings. They are used principally for keeping pastures in order by " preventing, excessive growth, and mobbed and. shifted accordingly. In the autumn the tops are quitted to the works as light chillers and the • remaining surplus sold in forward condition at the autumn cattle fair.. All animals ' are sold at 2J years old. Polled Angus or Polled Angus-Hereford cross steers are preferred, but occasionally lines of pure Herefords are run.

Wool Production

Between 1930 and 1936, and before, the reduction in the ewe flock with the : expansion of the stud flock, the yearly production of wool ranged from 122 to 134 bales. The more recent range is between 120 and 122 bales averaging- 4401 b. Lambs shorn in December average 31b. a fleece, hoggets (shorn as lambs) average 13|1b., and the ewes clip an average of 141 b. All fleeces are and before the introduction of the wartime appraisal system the wool was classed in 'the shed. Classing will be reintroduced in future clips.' Acknowledgments Thanks are expressed 'to the Soil Survey Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research for data in the soil map and to the Lands and Survey Department of drawing of maps.